Who's Set To Profit From The BP Oil Spill? The Gulf Coast 'Spillionaires' (PHOTOS)

Huffington Post   |  Nathaniel Cahners Hindman Posted: 07-28-10 11:07 AM

In 1989, when the Exxon Valdez tanker spewed 11 million gallons of oil onto the Alaskan coastline, the state was deep in the throes of a recession. To repair the damage, Exxon paid hundreds of millions to a plethora of local businesses, which locals soon started calling the "spillionaires".

Thereafter, Alaska went on to enjoy 21 straight years of growth, and the state's economic recovery became a small consolation after the spill.

So who will be the "spillionaires" of the BP oil spill?

As Foreign Policy magazine notes, "beach crews aren't the only people cleaning up after the Deepwater disaster." BP is expected to pay $37 billion to clean up the mess.

But the small silver lining of the BP disaster isn't as local as most would hope. It stretches well beyond the Gulf Coast region to Washington -- where lobbyists are being paid huge sums to influence lawmakers on an array of oil-related issues -- and across the country, to big clean-up companies that have won hefty contracts to decontaminate the Gulf.

Which businesses are "cleaning up" the most because of the BP oil spill? Find out below:

Onshore Oil Drilling Companies
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Onshore oil drilling companies stand to prosper amidst tougher offshore-drilling rules. Investors are following the money-trail, as advisers urge their clients to buy stock in companies that find and produce natural gas on land. These companies are expected to reap big profits from the "new interest in onshore-production potential" spawned by the spill.
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In 1989, when the Exxon Valdez tanker spewed 11 million gallons of oil onto the Alaskan coastline, the state was deep in the throes of a recession. To repair the damage, Exxon paid hundreds of million...
In 1989, when the Exxon Valdez tanker spewed 11 million gallons of oil onto the Alaskan coastline, the state was deep in the throes of a recession. To repair the damage, Exxon paid hundreds of million...
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Cady McCowin   12:07 PM on 8/12/2010
Cleanup companies will only make money if BP pays them. I heard on NPR last night that manufacturers of oil-absorbing booms are getting screwed by BP, because the company is refusing to accept or pay for orders it placed. The story did not focus on manufacturers who overextended themselves and got ahead of demand; it focused on manufacturers who received specific orders from BP that BP refused to accept and pay for. One guy said he may be out $6 million and may have to file bankruptcy if BP doesn't pay. How is this OK?
videogirl   04:32 PM on 7/31/2010
As to the use of dispersants in the Gulf, follow the money:
BP Oil Spill and EPA: It's 9/11 $Deja vu$
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6P3w1qJRiM
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mariusvinchi   02:31 AM on 7/30/2010
LAWYERS....Its always the lawyers who profit the most
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aliveoneinkiwiland   11:24 PM on 7/29/2010
Well add another one to the list.

Calhoun County oil spill declared a disaster
Legislator calls spill worst in Midwest history.
MARSHALL, MI — Local, state and federal authorities have been streaming into this tiny hamlet in Calhoun county since Monday to respond to what may be the largest oil leak ever in the state of Michigan — and possibly in the entire Midwest — in an oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy of Canada

http://michiganmessenger.com/40145/calhoun-county-oil-spill-declared-a-disaster
votingthistime   10:01 PM on 7/29/2010
Can we not see the unsustainability of our insatiable appetite for oil? The risks taken by BP were taken, in part, to satisfy this need. How many more hits like that can we expect dear old Mother Nature to take? We should aggressively pursue green energy as a matter of national security. View the choice this way: Continue our current policies of oil dependence, thereby poisoning the planet with these “inevitable” accidents, or pursuing green energy, which would decrease our dependence on oil more and more over time. Should be a no-brainer. You will let me know if unsustainability is actually a word. Here’s the link to the song I wrote about BP called Special Place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvPDK8oJBk
ian29   05:57 PM on 7/29/2010
Where is all the oil? Nearly two weeks after BP finally capped the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, the oil slicks that once spread across thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico have largely disappeared. Nor has much oil washed up on the sandy beaches and marshes along the Louisiana coast

ref
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews_excl/ynews_excl_sc3270
votingthistime   09:59 PM on 7/29/2010
BP, with the Obama's administration knowledge and permission, has been allowed to constantly spray poisonous, toxic DISPERSANTS into the water. Didn't take them 100 days to start doing it, neither. The effect of the dispersants is NOT to aid in the cleanup. It is, essentially, cosmetic: it makes the oil harder to see.
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mudshark12   11:51 PM on 7/29/2010
You have been drinking the BP koolaid again. Because of all the toxic Corexit BP callously dumped into the gulf (EPA objections be damned) the majority of the oil is UNDERNEATH the surface of the water in plumes. BP can then DENY that this oil exists because unless a person is reckless enough to go scuba diving with an underwater camera there is no way to get proof.

Unless you happen to own or have access to a small submarine with thick Plexiglas windows (they exist). Then BP would go into overdrive trying to either buy you off or scare you with lawsuits if they were not able to prevent you diving into the gulf outright.
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MadJayhawk   02:23 PM on 7/29/2010
I am shocked, shocked that community organizers haven't gotten their slice of the pie like they have in the weatherization racket. Maybe there aren't any community organizers in Louisiana(except NO) or Alabama

I agree that BP should be prosecuted and fined out of existence. Who cares about all those little old ladies in the UK who depend on their BP dividends to live on. Let them eat scones.
votingthistime   03:58 PM on 7/29/2010
Are you implying that BP should be allowed to poison and destroy a significant part of the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico and not be fined and prosecuted because "all those little old ladies in the UK who depend on their BP dividends to live on" might suffer? Are you serious? I hope we can all see what a false choice is being presented here!
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Passerineblue   10:31 AM on 7/29/2010
Who will benefit the most from the spill? Lawyers.

The so-called class action or "Plaintiff's" lawyers for the fishermen, tourist resort owners and others who have been affected by this spill are arriving in droves. They smell blood in the water ...... The typical take from these guys who operate on contingency fees is about 30% of the award. What's 30% of the $20Billion?

Federal court administrators are going to have to move in judges from around the country to LA, MS and TX to hear the number of suits which will be filed. Especially, when such a high percentage of judges sitting in the area own oil stock and will have to recuse themselves (i.e., step aside).

Now the big secret is that the fisherman and others who are entitled to reimbursement out of the $20B federally administered fund most likely don't need legal representation, but people are so freaked out that they think they need one and are willing to hand over 30% of their damages to a lawyer.
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M Miles   09:52 AM on 7/29/2010
Comparing the Gulf spill to that of the Exxon spill and asking who will get rich from the spill?

The Gulf spill is approximately 20,000 times as great as the Exxon spill in that the volume of oil spilled is nearly equal to 20,000 oil tankers. One would hope that those that will get rich from this man made disaster will be the ones that can form companies that will actually clean up the mess, protect the wildlife, and stop this from ever taking place again!
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Opinionated1111   04:13 AM on 7/29/2010
BP - better known as BULL-PUCKY Corp.....
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EJavaM07   11:41 PM on 7/28/2010
What do you bet that BP is sending Tony Hayward off to Russia so that he will be unavailable to testify over this spill?
RightsGuy   11:11 PM on 7/28/2010
The human cost of the oil spill and BPs corruption is huge, not only with this oil spill disaster, but with many other losses of life on other BP rigs.

Everyone please take a look at the following tribute by Steve Joynt to the 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon, “Oil spill Day 100: The 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon”

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/oil_spill_­day_100_th­e_11_men_w.html

We can never lose sight of the human cost of BP’s malfeasance.
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Lazy Susan   12:20 AM on 7/29/2010
Thank you for the pictures and background. They were brave men. Condolences to their families.
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magiart1   09:11 PM on 7/28/2010
When everything is given a price tag eveything loses its value.
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wrabbitt   08:44 PM on 7/28/2010
There is always someone who profits from the misfortune of others, the spill should never have happened, if everyone was doing their job and Murphys law wasn't so damn realistic.
votingthistime   06:32 PM on 7/28/2010
Here's the link to a song I wrote about BP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMvPDK8oJBk
Mr Hindman states "the Exxon Valdez tanker spewed 11 million gallons of oil onto the Alaskan coastline" The damage to the ecosystem, the wetlands, the breeding grounds of the local marine life, caused by the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I must sadly predict, will prove to be much, much worse. Yes, some people will find a way to profit from this. That's pretty much the American way. I suspect there's a Native American somewhere saying welcome to my world.

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